Social Media… Don’t let it overwhelm you!

Now that you’re committed to adopting social media into your marketing strategy (or improving the social media strategy you already have), let’s talk about what you hope to achieve. Don’t let it overwhelm you! By selecting one or two specific goals, you will be able to target your efforts and streamline your process to specifically reach those goals. Consider creating a company Twitter account, LinkedIn Group, and Facebook Page for your company. Also, encourage your employees to set up personal Twitter, LinkedIn, and perhaps Quora accounts too so they can represent your company as well.

First step—like any marketing effort—is setting a specific goal. What are you trying to accomplish by monitoring your social media presence? Do you want to find conversations that could help drive traffic to your website? Increase your (or your company’s) thought leadership? Generate leads? Sales? Buzz?

Each account you create is both a place for your customers to interact with you and a way for you to deliver great content to your developing networks.

Ideally, you will want to span your online presence across as many networks as possible. (The more places you can get your business found, the better.)

Now you will have a very solid understanding of the social media conversations and content that is relevant to you and your business online.